


Disparate

by CorvidRoses



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Angst, M/M, Shadowbringers Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:08:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22341580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CorvidRoses/pseuds/CorvidRoses
Summary: On the brink of Amaurot's destruction, what remains?
Relationships: 14th Member of the Convocation of Fourteen/Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch, Hythlodaeus/Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV)
Kudos: 17





	Disparate

“So this is how you would defy me?”

That tone was so familiar to the lightbringer’s ears. It used to be one of their favorites to ever grace them. It was sad then, that now it only meant separation, hollowness, nothing; a demanding bark like a parent reprimanding their child. 

There they stood, at the ends of abandoned Amaurot, the paradisiacal Underworld turned ruin. As aether swirled and licked the skin of their delicate arms, they considered turning towards the voice, perhaps once more, just for old times sake; perhaps this time it would belong to their friend and not...not a shell of what he once was.

“Simply ignoring my inquiries is childish. Would you truly ask to end up just as our poor friend has? Or would you uphold his memory, and join us?”

The answer was always set in stone, this they both knew, but some part that remained wasn’t sure which path they would take. 

Did it matter? 

Always. It always would to them.

“You are no longer Hades. He would wish for our people to live, not to slander our love’s name with false hopes and goals! What do you still even feel for Hythlodaeus?! For me?! If it were anything at all, you would not be standing here, stopping me! You would have been there to save him!” 

It was a rage they had never felt before, pounding in their chest, their voice hoarse with pain and the creeping fatigue from lack of energy. They would be safe soon. They would all be. And Hythlodaeus would have his hope fulfilled. The 14th no longer, they had cast aside their status after everything was lost to them: Hades, Hythlodaeus, Amaurot. Nothing remained, why should they have to? Their last act would be as the lightbringer, and they would have it no other way.

One wrist was taken suddenly, gripped harshly like icicles against their skin, pulling them from their summoning. They momentarily met eyes with their old friend- no. With Emet-Selch. Such mysteriously painted golden eyes so cold and probing now. It was haunting to look at. Would this be what they would become to Hydaelyn? Did it even matter?

“Do not presume to know the extent of my emotions! You have always been careless and unchecked in your actions. Had you have simply listened, he would still be among us. You pushed him to this.”

It was like a dagger to the heart, thrusted and twisted, beckoning the urge to scream, cry, anything to drown out the pain. They wouldn’t accept this, they would never believe him again.  
“You believe I was not prepared to die alongside him? I was ready to give my life that day, I would not live one more without him, but he…” gods no, there couldn’t be tears here. They would not show weakness to this...thing.  
“...he fooled me, Hades. He sacrificed himself in hopes that I could still save you. That you might remember what he meant to us. It was in vain, I realize.”

The icy hold on their wrist was shaken off, and they held themselves ever closer to the azure crystal held within the ruins. It was untouchable to those tempered by Zodiark, and thus it hung in blinding light, waiting to be awoken. The lightbringer would see to it, a hand resting over where their third eye marking used to reside. How it seared a scar into their head when Hydaelyn’s first blow had knocked them back. How it burned even now with the reminder to finish the job.

No more tears.

“I have made my choice, Emet-Selch. This is how it ends.” 

Once more, they lifted their hands in summoning, the warmth of the crystal surrounding them. Oh, how nice it felt to be embraced by something other than death and despair. To be silently reassured that their world may come to its close. That those who died would not have done so without purpose. They would all be saved. They would suffer no longer.

“Then you have made an unfortunate mistake.”

Pain was something hardly felt any longer, as the lightbringer has already known what tore them apart most. They had already lost those close to them, nothing hurt anymore. Not even the tendril impaling itself deep into their stomach. The blood that rose like vomit in their throat was simply another misfortune, nothing more. As it pooled, spilled, trickled out the side of their lips, they stood still, stubborn, never flinching. They would call Hydaelyn to this ruin, they would end this, even with their legs trembling beneath them.

But before then. They would get the last word.

Shakily turning their head, they met their old friend with piercing eyes.

“That is a challenge I am willing to accept, Emet-Selch.”

The force with which the two were thrown from the Crystal as it shattered was great, and both had collapsed along the crystal torn pathway out of the main city. Hydaelyn had been freed, and this would all be over soon. The lightbringer looked to their old friend, his skin burned with exposure to the light crystal, the now evident effects of his tempered body crying out. They almost wept for him. Even though they knew he would return eternal, he would return forever without the life he had before, and it was enough to make any mortal cry.

The tendril conjured by Emet-Selch still buried itself in their stomach, but they fought off the pain to scoot themselves close to their old friend, their old love. It hurt to hold him, one bound by dark and the other light, but they would feel this last sensation as their gods fought over what remained of their world. They would indulge in the surprising warmth of his coat, the expensive furs he always thought nothing of gently kissing their cheek. It was a moment they would have. That the ascian knew he’d lost. That he admired the fight his love had always had.

The lightbringer took his hand, a shaky, bloodied kiss pressing itself to his glove. A final, proper goodbye.

“You fought well, Hades...I shall miss you dearly until the day you return to us. But...promise me until then...you will remember us. Remember that we lived...that we loved…”

Their voice faded into the night, ever embracing what remained of their friend. Hades had listened. Emet-Selch had cried, not fully understanding why.

Even ascians were capable of crying.


End file.
